


Close Call

by phoenixnz



Series: The Chronicles of Martha and Jonathan [27]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Episode Related, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 02:03:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16714447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: Jonathan ponders life after Martha almost dies.





	Close Call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BigRed67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigRed67/gifts).



Jonathan clutched his wife’s hand as he sat by her hospital bed, watching her face while she slept. He hadn’t been able to sleep in days and, while everything was almost back to normal, he couldn’t forget the nightmare they’d been through the past few days.

He’d never told Martha but when his mother had died he’d begun having dreams that he would lose his wife as well. He’d often woken up in the night and reached for her, terrified that she wouldn’t be there. His heart would pound in his chest and he’d feel a cold sweat all over his body at the thought that the woman he loved so deeply would one day not be there.

His worst fear had almost come true when she’d suddenly come down with what doctors thought was some kind of poisoning. They’d all been mystified as to what could have been the cause. 

They’d talked for years about what would happen if the government were to suddenly discover what was in that storm cellar. When the Disease Control Agency had come to the farm to try to determine what the toxin was that was slowly killing his wife, Jonathan had barely been able to stop himself from trying to stop the investigators. 

He was glad that Clark had been there to keep him from panicking, especially when the team had found the key to the ship. 

What had made things worse was that Clark had also come down with the same ailment, which told them meteor rock had something to do with it.

He rubbed his thumb gently over her hand, thinking about the past few weeks. Things had been bad enough with their money troubles, and the ensuing arguments. Then Clark’s friend, Ryan, had died from a brain tumour. Clark had been devastated but Martha had been equally so. 

“If we’d taken him in, let him live with us, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened,” she’d said. 

It was obvious she blamed herself. When they’d met the boy the year before, they’d learned he was able to read what was on the surface of people’s minds. His stepfather had exploited that ability and forced him to help the man and his wife rob various stores. Clark had been able to rescue Ryan after the man had tried to use him to steal from Lex. 

Ryan had gone to live with a relative, but as it turned out, when she discovered what he could do and what was actually causing it, she had turned over guardianship to a research scientist who was interested in Ryan’s ability. To the point of exploitation, refusing to get him medical treatment. It had accelerated the growth of the tumour, but obviously Dr Garner hadn’t cared about that either. 

The boy hadn’t held it against his aunt, but Jonathan had been angry at the woman anyway. If Ryan hadn’t been stuck in the research facility, forced to use his ability, they might have been able to save him.

Hindsight was always twenty-twenty, he thought, remembering one of his father’s many platitudes. It was ironic that the things that used to drive him crazy about Hiram were the things he now missed the most about him, and found himself mimicking from time to time. Clark would roll his eyes at that, but Jonathan would just tell him to wait until he was a father. Then he would understand. 

“What’s that smile for?” Martha asked softly. 

“Just thinking about stuff my dad used to say,” he told her. “Martha …”

“Don’t say it,” she said. 

“I can’t help it. I almost lost you.”

It had come very close. Her heart had arrested, just as he and Clark had managed to activate the ship. As much as he feared what that thing could do, it had literally saved Martha’s life.

“But you didn’t,” she replied. 

“Thanks to the ship.” They’d almost lost Clark as well, until they’d thought of the ship. After all, it had healed Martha before, made it possible for her to get pregnant.

He laid his hand on her still flat stomach. She was only a few weeks’ pregnant. Possibly about two months.

She hadn’t told him about the pregnancy, afraid that if she said something then it would turn out she was mistaken. He had no idea how the toxin from the meteor rock would have affected things. 

Martha laid her hand on top of his. “Everything’s fine,” she said.

Maybe now it was, he thought. He still felt guilty over the fights they’d had, especially over her job. While the money had been sorely needed, he had hated the fact she worked for Lionel. The man was ruthless and immoral. Yet they owed him for Clark. If he hadn’t faked those adoption papers, made it all look legal, he didn’t know where they would be. 

“Stop doing that,” Martha said, prodding him.

“Doing what?”

“Going over mistakes. All of that is in the past. I’m here. So is Clark.”

“I just …”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But remember what you said to me when we first got married? We always said that whatever comes along we’d handle it together.”

He nodded and smiled at his wife. Together, he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously this snippet is from Fever. There are a couple of things that bother me about the show timeline at this stage. One, if Ryan knew Martha had found out she was pregnant, wouldn't she be showing by this episode? The one entitled 'Ryan' was aired in November 2002, and this one was in February 2003, so it doesn't make sense. Also, you'd think she would have been six months along by May. We know it's May by the last episode because Clark's birthday is in May.


End file.
